Glover shares Sawgrass lead with McIlroy one shot back

The Players Championship- first-round leaderboard

-6 J J Spaun (US), C Villegas (Col), L Glover (US); -5 M Lee (Aus), B Horschel (US) R McIlroy (NI)

Selected others: -4 D McCarthy (US), C Phillips (US), R Fowler (US), A Rai (Eng); -3 S Scheffler (US), R MacIntyre (Sco); -2 C Morikawa (US), J Spieth (US); -1 J Rose (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng)

Former US Open champion Lucas Glover is one of three players who hold a share of the lead after the opening round of The Players Championship in Florida.

American Glover, 45, made a birdie on each of his last four holes at TPC Sawgrass to card a six-under-par 66 and claim an early lead, before compatriot JJ Spaun and Colombia's Camilo Villegas joined him at the top of the leaderboard.

World number two Rory McIlroy also took advantage of sun-drenched conditions to shoot an impressive five-under-par 67 - with seven birdies, including an excellent three on the 18th - and two bogeys.

His initial drive on the par-four 18th ended up on pine straw among trees to the right of the fairway, but his second shot finished just 8ft from the cup and he holed out from there.

"I was just trying to chip-and-run a five iron up around the front of the green and make four, and get out of there," said 2019 winner McIlroy, who is tied for second with American Billy Horschel and Australia's Min Woo Lee.

"It was a bonus to get it up on the green and hole the putt was a lovely way to finish.

"I certainly didn't drive it the way I wanted to. Didn't hit it in as many fairways as I would have liked.

"I think with the greens being so receptive, you can get away with it a little bit. I'm not going to be able to get away with it for the rest of the week.

"I sort of rode my luck out there a little bit."

The Northern Irishman edged clear of his star-studded group, which included world number one Scottie Scheffler and number three Xander Schauffele.

Defending champion Scheffler finished on 69 as he kick-started his attempt to claim a record third consecutive Players victory, while Schauffele carded a 72.

The field for the tournament includes 48 of the world's top 50-ranked players.

McIlroy was also asked about an incident during a practice round earlier this week.

A video of the incident went viral on social media as it appeared to show the Northern Irishman approaching a spectator, asking for their phone, and marching off with it.

McIlroy declined to comment following his opening round.

However the spectator at the centre of the incident has apologised.

University of Texas golfer Luke Potter was reported to have heckled McIlroy over a shot that found the water, referencing the 2011 Masters, when McIlroy fell apart on the final day.

"I just made a mistake, and I take ownership for it. I apologise for it. That's about all that needs to be said," he told the Golf Channel.

Potter was named the Golf Channel's top-ranked player in the Class of 2022 and was named the 2019 California Freshman Athlete of the Year - the first golfer since Tiger Woods to win that plaudit.

His coach, John Fields, told Golf.com: "It's an embarrassing moment. It is particularly sensitive to me because our program is built on respect for the game."

He said Potter had sent written apologies to McIlroy and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.